Swimming pool



Nov. 11, 1952 c. HAUBER ETAL SWIMMING POOL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb.19, 1947 N 1952 c. HAUBER ETAL 2,617, 64

I SWIMMING POOL Filed Feb. 19. 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 11,1952 SWIMMING POOL Carl Hauber, Elmhurst, and Robert J. Koupal, Chicago,111., assignors to 'Infilco Incorporated, Chicago, 111., a corporationof Delaware Application February 19, 1947, Serial No. izasso 8 Claims.

This invention relates to swimming pools.

It is an object of this invention to provide a swimming pool that iscompact and cheap in construction.

Another object is to provide a swimming pool and recirculation systemtherefor that needs no extraneous piping for conducting the water fromthe pool to the filter and thence back to the pool.

Another object is to provide 'a swimming pool recirculation systeminstalled within the pool structure. i

Another object of our invention is a swimming pool that need not beanchored in the ground below the freezing line but can be permitted tobe raised by outside pressures, such as occur, for instance, uponfreezing of the soil.

Another object of the invention is to eliminate stresses between thepool and its filter chamber due to unequal settling of the ground.

Another object is to provide a swimming pool recirculation system whichprevents short circuiting of the filtered water to the recirculationconduit.

Still another object is to provide a swimming pool recirculation systemwherein the recirculated water is withdrawn from the surface layers ofthe pool water.

Another object is a combined recirculation conduit and splash gutter fora swimming pool.

Swimming pools are commonly constructed from concrete with verticalwalls and a bottom that is substantially at right angles to the boundarywalls and slopes slightly downwardly to one or several drains located inthe bottom, usually somewhere near one end'of the pool. The equipmentfor the filter and recirculation system is generally located in aseparate chamber ad acent or near the pool and is connected to the poolby suitable inlet and outlet piping. Usually the inlet piping ot thefilter system is connected to the bottom drain and receives the poolwater therethrough, thedrain serving both for recirculation and, througha waste connection, for draining the pool. The pool is usuallysurrounded by a scum and splash gutter which is also connected to theinlet piping of the recirculation system.

Such construction of swimming pools is very expensive. The verticalwalls of the pool must be poured of concrete and strongly reinforced asthey have to withstand considerable pressures when the pool is empty. 1In view of the external piping between thepool and thefilter systemfloating of the pool must be prevented. V Excavation has therefore to becarried usually to a considerable depth to permit firmly anchoring 2 Vthe pool below the freezingline of the ground. In spite of allprecautions and the great expense involved there remains still thedanger that the pool will float when pressures exceed the foreseen limitfor some reason. When this occurs, or when the ground settles unequallyunder the pool and the filter chamber, the extraneous pipe systemconnecting the pool with the filter system will be disrupted,necessitating cumbersome and expensive repairs. 1.

Another disadvantage of the conventional construction is that drawingoff from oneorseveral bottom drains is conducive to considerable shortcircuiting of the filtered water from the inlet to the drain. Further,in such a construction, the bottom layers of the pool water arewithdrawn while the upper layers of water, which carry most of thecontaminating materials, may remain undisturbed inthe pool forsubstantial periods.

We have found that these drawbacks can beoff and provides evendistribution of withdrawal,

and whereby the upper layers of ater are withdrawn rather than the lowerones. This result is obtained by providing a launder or recirculationconduit leading around the basin and discharging into a pump well in oneend of the basin ad acentthe filter chamber. Water may ,be

withdrawn into the conduit through a p urality of ports in the wall ofthe' conduit which; areequally spaced around the basin at thepredetermined liquid level, orwe may provide a weirat the end of thepool opposite the inlet for filtered water. over which the water flowsinto the recirculation conduit. In any event, short circuiting isprevented and the surface water is withdrawn uniformly. Therecirculation conduit may also serve at the same time as splash gutterby providing an overflow .thereinto above the nor- .mal liquid level inthe basin.

Instead of the vertical walls" and horizontal :bottom commonly used wemay also provide in some cases, especially for smaller pools, asubstantially oval basin with a boundary Wall that slopes from all sidesgently down to and merges with the rounded floor of the basin. Thisconstruction has great advantages. The rounded oval shell of the basinis very well suited to take considerable pressures and when exposed tounexpected stress it will not break but may be somewhat compressed andslightly lifted. In the absence of external piping that could bedisrupted, such floating or lifting of the pool will cause no damage andis not objectionable. It is therefore not necessary to anchor the poolin deep ground but the pool will be allowed to fioat. Consequently muchless excavation is needed than with the conventional construction; Inview of the favorable shape with regard to stresses the walls of theoval basin can be considerably lighter. They need not be poured 'of'concrete and need not be reinforced, but can be made by spraying cementdirectly on the ground.

Our invention will be readily understood from a consideration of thedrawings which form a part hereof and wherein:

Figure 1 isa plan view of one embodiment of a pool of ourinvention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the pool of Figure 1taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are vertical cross sectional views, on an'enlargedscale, of the pool taken along lines 3-3 and 4--4 of Figure 2,respectively.

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross sectional View of the overflow drain ofFigure 4.

Figure 6 is a plan view of another embodiment of our invention with thecover of the recirculation conduit andfilter chamber and the filteringequipment removed.

Figure '7 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the embodiment ofFigure 6 with the equipment removed taken along line l--] of Figure 6;and

Figure 8 is a vertical transverse sectional view, on an enlarged scale,of the pool-of Figure 6 taken along the line 8--8 of Figure '7.

The swimming pool of Figures 1 to 5 comprisesa basin I0 having anelliptical'bou'nd'ary wall H sloping down from all sides toward andmerging with a rounded bottom' l2. As shown in Figure 2, the slope ofthe wall H and floor t2 may be somewhat steeper on one end portion ofthe basin and more gentle on the other end portion. This oval shell orbasin l0 may be constructed by spraying cement on the excavated ground.It will be obvious that the shape of the basin requires only machineexcavation and avoids the use of much of the forms heretofore required.

A partition I 4 is mounted across the full width of the basin in nearthe deep end thereof and extends from the floor l2 to an elevation abovethe predetermined liquid level therein, thus separating the end portion[50f the basin from the main portion IE or pool proper. As best shown inFigure 3, the end portion is divided by a second partition 20, which isat right angles to the partition I4, into two laterally adjacentchambers, 2| and 22. Into the larger chamber 22 we place the filteringand recirculation equipment, such as a recirculation pump 23 and afilter 24 which may be a sand filter or a diatomite filter. A floor 25may be provided in the filter chamber 22 to support the equ pment. Thesmaller chamber 2| serves as a pump well and replaces the usual surgetank. Raw water may be admitted to the pump well by any suitable means,not shown. AsShQWIl n Fig r 4 3, the pump suction line extends from thefilter chamber 22 through the partition 20into the pump well 21. A washwater drain conduit 23 leads from the filter 24. Filtered water reentersthe pool through inlet fittings 21 which are cast in the partition wallM and connected to the filter outlet conduit 28. The end portion l5 ofthe basin, containing the twochambers 2| and 22, is-preferably providedwith a cover 33 as shown in Figure 2. A manhole 3| and ladder 32 provideaccess to the filter chamber 22. The cover 30 may be used to support adiving board 33 which will extend beyond the partition [4 and thus overthe deepest portion of the pool.

A recirculation conduit surrounds the upper wall portion of the poolproper, including the partition wall l4. This recirculation conduit willbe poured from concrete and reinforced. It may take the form shown inFigures 4. and 5 and comprise an upper horizontally extending curbportion 4| which may merge into a wall:- way, not Ishown, leading aroundthe basin l8, and a wedge shaped lower portion 42 in which therecirculation channel 43 is formed. The lower inner portion of the wedgeis cut away, as shown at, to provide edges 35 and 45 whichconform to theshape of the wall I I. Thus the wedge rides on the upper edge of wall Hand will be supported thereon by the usual earth fill around the basin,not shown.

As shown in Figure 2, a plurality of equally spaced ports are providedin the inner wall of the recirculation conduit. These ports should be atan elevation adjacent the predetermined liquid level in the basin sothat they form overflows. Bores 5| lead from the ports 50 and communicate with the channel 43. The channel 43 should be of suflicientsize to hold the recircula tion fiow from the'pool to the filter and theports be so proportioned that the water is uniformly withdrawn throughall of them. The channel 43 .has a light slope downwardly from theshallow end portion of the basin It! to the partition wall l4 so thatthe water flows by gravity along the channel, and drains into the pumpwell 2! through an outlet port, or ports 52. Bottom drains 55, whichwill be provided with suitable plugs, not shown, lead from the deepportion of the pool, as shown. These drains are used only when the Waterin the pool is to be removed to waste. 'The withdrawal of pool water tothe filter is effected solely by way of the channel 43.

The operation of the pool and its recirculation system will be easilyunderstood. Assuming the pool has been emptied for cleaning and is readyto be refilled, drains having been closed and the raw water inlet meansopened: then the pump 23 is started and water is pumped from pump well2| into and through the filter 2e and discharged through inlets 21 intothe main portion I6 or the pool proper. When the pool is filled to thepredetermined level the raw water inlet means will be closed. Water fromthe pool will now begin to fiow through ports 53 and channel 43 into thepump well 2|. As pumping is continued pool water'will circulate from thepool through the channel 43, the outlets 52, the pump well 2|, thefilter 24 and back to the pool through inlets 21. Backwashing of thefilter is effected in usual manner and wash water is discharged to Wastethrough the drain 26. 7

It will be obvious from the description that our construction avoids allextraneous piping in the recirculation-systemwhich might be damaged byfloating of'the pool. At the same timeour pool has the advantage thatshort circuiting of filtered,

water from the inlet to the recirculation conduit is minimized bywithdrawing the pool water at multiple points evenly spaced around thepool. This provides a much better distribution than the usual withdrawalfrom one location within the pool, as through a bottom drain. A furtheradvantage resides in the withdrawal for filtering of the upper layers ofwater rather than the bottom layers; Floating matter is mostobjectionable and gives a pool a very unpleasant appearance. The usualacum gutter which receives only such surface water as spills overoccasionally, is not effective to remove floating materials such ashair, lint and grease, which appear in great quantities on the poolwhere control of the bathers is not quite strict. Frequently,iit isnecessary to raise the level of a pool to skim these floating materialsinto the scum gutters. While we may provide overflow openings in thecurb portion of the recirculation conduit, such as shown at 56 in Figure5, to avoid flooding of the walkway, we need not rely on these forremoval of the surface layers of the pool water with their floatingmaterials,; as these are continuously withdrawn through the ports 5|!and passed to the filter.

The embodiment of Figures 6, 7, and 8 is quite similar to that describedabove and based on the sa'meprinciples: i. e. the arrangement of thefilter chamber and pump well within one end portion of the basin,elimination of all external piping between filter chamber and pool andsubstitution therefor of flow channels in and through the walls of thebasin, withdrawal of the surface layers of water for filtering andpreventing of short circuiting of filtered water.

In these figures the invention is shown for purposes of illustration asapplied in a rectangular basin, although the oval shape of Figure 1 mayalso be used. This embodiment is especially suitable for large pools,such as municipal pools.

The basin 60 has side walls El and '82 and end walls 63 and 64 which maybe poured from concrete and reinforced in the usual manner. The bottom65 may slope downwardly from end wall 64 to the location of drains 66but may be substantially horizontal from the end wall 63 to the drains.The bottom may also slope slightly from the side walls and from the axisof the basin to the drains, as shown in Figure 8. A partition 68 ismounted laterally across the basin 60, near the end Wall 63, and extendsfrom the floor 65 to above the predetermined liquid level. A secondpartition Ill divides the space between partition 68 and end wall 63into two chambers, ll and 12, which serve as pump well and filterchamber, respectively. This arrangement is the same as in the firstembodiment and the equipment for the'filter and recirculation systemwill be installed in the same manner and need not be described. The twochambers H and 12 preferably will also be covered, as shown in Figure'7. In this embodiment the launder 88 which serves as recirculationconduit is poured with the walls of the pool proper, including thepartition, and integral therewith, as shown in Figures 7 and 8. Aconcrete cover 8| will be provided for the launder and will usuallymerge into a walkway around the basin, not shown. In this embodiment allwater is taken off into the launder 80 over a weir 82 at the far end ofthe basin from the filter chamber. The weir 82 is a few inches lowerthan the inner wall of the launder along the other sides of the pool sothat the'water is 6 forced toflow through the entire lengthof the poolbefore reaching the takeoff. As in theembodiment of Figure 1 the launderhas a slight slope from the endwall 64 to the partition 68 so that waterwillfiow by gravity to the pump well 7 I.

The inner wall of the launder along the sides GI and 62 of the basin andpartition'68 maybe provided with a plurality of ports, such as ports 58of Figure 2, which will be arranged above the normal liquid level in thepool, or the upper edge of the inner wall may be slightly spaced belowthe cover 8| as shown in Figure 7 to provide an auxiliary overflow 83into the launder, at an elevation above the liquid level asestablishedby the weir 82. This construction provides a splash gutterand recirculation conduit combined in one simple structure instead ofthe separate conduits usually provided therefor.

The launder discharges into the pump well 1| through an outlet 84.Filtered water is returned to the pool through fittings 85 cast in thepartition 68 which provide even distribution over the entire width anddepth of the pool. The fittings may be connected to the filter outletconduit, as shown in Figure 2, or, as shown in Figure 7, a distributionflume 86 may be formed in partition .68 and the filtered water passedthereinto through an in1et8'l (Figure 6), to be discharged through thefittings 85.

Due to the fact that the filtered water enters the pool at the deep endthrough submerged in lets and flows across the entire length of the poolto be withdrawn ,at the shallow end from the surface, a uniformdistribution of the filtered water and withdrawal of the whole contentsof the pool is assured and short circuiting from the inlet to'the outletprevented. The top layer of water which is continuously withdrawn overthe weir carries with it the floating matter such as hair' and lint, sothat the surface of the pool is at all times clean.

It will be obvious from the description of the preferred embodiments of'our invention that we provide a compact pool and recirculation unitwhich is not endangered by floating or settling of theground and whichis cheap in construction and simple in maintenance. Many modificationswithin the scope of the invention will occur to those skilled in theart. Accordingly we do not wish to limit ourselves to the exactconstruction of the embodiments shown which were described for purposesof illustration and exemplification but not of limitation.

We claim:

1 1, In a swimming pool including a basin and a water. filtering plant,a recirculation system connecting saidvbasin and said filtering plant,said recirculation system being free of external piping subject todisruption and comprising a partition within said basin near one endthereof and extending across thewidth of said basin from the bottom toan elevation above the predetermined liquid level of said basin, andseparating the main portion of said basin from an internal chamber inone end portion of said basin, a second partition extending from saidfirst partition and dividing said internal chamber into a pump well anda filter compartment, a substantially horizontal flow channel in theupper portion of the walls of said basin, an overflow into said channelfrom said basin determining the normal liquid level in said basin, andoutlet from said channel into said pump well, an inlet into said filtercompartment from said pump well adapted to be connected to the suctionline of 7 a pump in the filter compartment, and an inlet intosaid mainportion comprising a passageway leading from said filter compartmentthrough said first partition, said inlet being adapted to be connectedto the outlet conduit from a filter in said filter chamber.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said overflow comprises a weir atthe endof said main portion opposite said inlet into said main portion.

3. The apparatus of claim I, wherein said overflow provides a pluralityof ports spaced around the main portion of said basin.

4. A" swimming pool comprising a substantially oval basin having arounded bottomand a boundary wall sloping downwardly to and merging intosaid bottom, a drain leading from said bottom to waste, a channel in theupper portion of said wall, said wall having a plurality of uniformlyspaced ports connecting said channel with said basin and establishingthe liquid level in said basin, a partition across said basin near oneend thereof, a second partition leading from said first partition tosaid end of the basin, an outlet from said channel into the space on oneside of said second partition, an inlet into said basin from the spaceon the other side of said second partition, said inlet leading throughsaidfirst partition, and an outlet from said last mentioned space towaste, said second partition being provided with an opening.

5. In a swimming pool and recirculation system of the type described,including a basin having a bottom and a boundarywall, a pump, a filterhaving an inlet and an outlet, said filter inlet being connected to thedischarge side of said pump, and an inlet for filtered water into saidbasin connected. toithe outlet of said filter, a unitary recirculationconduit and scum gutter structure comprising a substantiallyhorizontally ex tending channel in the walls of said basin, an overflowinto said channel from said basin determining the normal liquid level insaid basin, an auxiliary overflow from said basin into said channelat-an elevation higher than said first overflow, said channeldischarging on the suction side of said pump.

6. A swimming pool including a basin, a filter plant, and arecirculation system conveying pool water to the filter and filteredwater to the pool, said system being characterized by being free ofexternal piping and being formed by a vertical partition in said basinseparating one end portion of said basin from the main portion, therebyforming a chamber within said basin for housing said filter plant, afiume in said partition, a plurality of outlets leading from said fiumetosaid main portion of the basin through said partition, an inlet intosaid flume from said chamber and adapted to receive filtered water fromsaid filter plant, a launder aroundsaid main portion, an overflow intosaid launder, and an auxiliary over- 8 flow into s'aidlaunder at anelevation higher than said overflow, said launder discharging into saidchamber.

7. In a swimming pool including a basin having a bottom and boundarywalls and a filtering plant, a recirculation system connecting saidbasin and filtering plant and being free of piping external of saidbasin, said system comprising a partition wall separating a chamber forthe filter plant in an end portion. of said basin from the main portionthereof, a second partition dividing said chamber into a pump well and afilter compartment, a launder around the main portion of said basin,said launder being formed in and integral with the upper part of thewalls around said main portion, an outlet from said launder into saidpump well, an outlet from said pump well into said filter compartment, aplurality of flow channels leading through said first partition fromsaid filter compartment into said main portion, and a weir along the endwall in said main portion. and forming an overflow into said launder,the elevation of said weir being lower than the elevation of the top ofsaid launder.

8. In a swimming pool including a basin and a filter plant, arecirculation system free of external piping connecting said basin andsaid filter plant and comprising a vertical partition in said basinseparating a chamber for said filter plant in one end portion of saidbasin from the main portion of the basin, a plurality of passagewaysleading through said partition to said main por tion, said passagewaysbeing connected to a common inlet adapted to receive filtered water fromsaid filter plant, a launder around said main portion, an overflow intosaid launder establishing the normal liquid level in said basin, anauxiliary overflow into said launder from an elevation higher than saidfirst overflow, an outlet from said launder discharging into saidchamber, a wall separating said launder outlet from said common inlet,and a passageway through said wall adapted to be connected to the pumpsue-- tion line of said filter plant.

CARL HAUBER. ROBERT J. KOUPAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

1. IN A SWIMMING POOL INCLUDING A BASIN AND A WATER FILTERING PLANT, ARECIRCULATION SYSTEM CONNECTING SAID BASIN AND SAID FILTERING PLANT,SAID RECIRCULATION SYSTEM BEING FREE OF EXTERNAL PIPING SUBJECT TODISRUPTION AND COMPRISING A PARTITION WITHIN SAID BASIN NEAR ONE ENDTHEREOF AND EXTENDING ACROSS THE WIDTH OF SAID BASIN FROM THE BOTTOM TOAN ELEVATION ABOVE THE PREDETERMINED LIQUID LEVEL OF SAID BASIN, ANDSEPARATING THE MAIN PORTION OF SAID BASIN FROM AN INTERNAL CHAMBER INONE END PORTION OF SAID BASIN, A SECOND PARTITION EXTENDING FROM SAIDFIRST PARTITION AND DIVIDING SAID INTERNAL CHAMBER INTO A PUMP WELL ANDA FILTER COMPARTMENT, A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL FLOW CHANNEL IN THEUPPER PORTION OF THE WALLS OF SAID BASIN, AN OVERFLOW INTO SAID CHANNELFROM SAID BASIN DETERMINING THE NORMAL LIQUID LEVEL IN SAID BASIN, ANDOUTLET FROM SAID CHANNEL INTO SAID PUMP WELL, AN INLET INTO SAID FILTERCOMPARTMENT FROM SAID PUMP WELL ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO THE SUCTIONLINE OF A PUMP IN THE FILTER COMPARTMENT, AND AN INLET INTO SAID MAINPORTION COMPRISING A PASSAGEWAY LEADING FROM SAID FILTER COMPARTMENTTHROUGH SAID FIRST PARTITION, SAID INLET BEING ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTEDTO THE OUTLET CONDUIT FROM A FILTER IN SAID FILTER CHAMBER.